Airship.



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AIRSHIP.

APPLICATION FILEDDEC. 31. 1914. I I 1,160,552. Patented Nov, 16, 1915.

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Y Be it known that I, v ILL AM M. lessen,

a;cit izenlpfj.the United States, residing at mGroveland, in; the county of Lake and State -'5 of Florida have invented certain new and i=3,useful lmpnovements in Air-ships, of which wthei following is a specification.

Th: present invention relates to certain w and:useful;"improvements in airships,

wine '..andwhas for itslobject toprovide a device of sthisi'charactelswhich embodies novel features ofzconstructiencwhereby it 1S always under *thecomplete. control of the aviator and is p adapted tofibe used, for commercial purposes lsa'inztrans porting eject of the invention is to .Iprovide an-iairsliip which combines a gas bag andsa'supponting planes in such a man- ;-?wnerasto::obtain greater buoyancy which has "t-he propellers mounted in such a manner nthati'they; can heequiclcly swung into various angiilar positionsiso'as toeither lift the machinefstraight iyor drive it forward or backwardywhic'hcan ice-quickly turned to the right onatov the: left icy-means of the pror;-apellers,; and.-whichcan beguided in the. usual manner by means of arudder. .1i'Wfth:theseiaandpther, objects in view, the

- invention consists in certain novel combiw-;11"ationsiand" arrangernents,of the parts as avill morei'fully. iappear as the description proceedsg ithe novel features thereof being pointed out inthelappended claims.

I For a full understanding of the invention,

' reference is to-be had to the following del scription and: accompanying drawin in ""which:

r Figure l 'constructeduin faccordance with the inven- -tion.: FigxQisarear end view of the same. F'ig..-53 is-Taplan; view of the boat and propeller frames showing the gearing. for driving'thepropell'ers portions of the boat being 7 broken faWay. iFIg. 'is a detail. sectional view tliroiigh o'ne of the propeller. tubes showing "the gearing between the. propeller shaftandthe transverse drive shaft. Fig. 5 i's a detail: dew-inf the gearing between the engine aindith'e transverse shaft. Figsfi and "7- are' detail views-"of one of the propeller controlling levers; Fig. 8 is a detail per- 'spective view 'ofrithe rudder. Fig. 9,1s a detail ds,-,passengers, etc, from Lside elevation of an airship iewpf por ion of the r dder-mediak I ethics.

h p wn nnnnp or'cncvsnenn, stomps," essreiiion orchid-sonar To nn jay W. snnrrnnn enn ONE-FOURTH re sncjne'n ifwoons, Berni-or ettefs Patent.

a iic tmn alea nec mber cilia i i; swam. 379,913.

nism, portions being broken awa and" shown in section Corresponding and like partsare referred to in the following description and indicated in all the views of the drawings by the same reference characters. i

Referring to the drawings which illustrate one possible embodiment of the invention, the numeral-1 designates an elongated gas bag which extends longitudinallyof the machine, and 2 supporting planes which prcqect laterally from opposite sides of the gas hag, both the gas bag and supporting plan being mounted upon and held in proper relative position by means of a fra me 3. Arranged below the gas bag 1 isa boat ekwhich is suspended from the mainframe 3 and connected to both the main frame and the supporting planes 2 by means of hangers and brace members 5. Projecting laterally fromoppo'site sides of the boat 4: are suitable propeller frames 6 and extend! ing transversely across the boat and frames .6 is a transverse drive shaft 7 which is jonrnaled in suitable; bearings 8. ,Power may be applied to the transverse drive shaft in any suitable manner from anengine 9 which is of the conventional coinstruction and suitably mounts: upon the boat e. In the present 1 nos the engine shaft 10 is connected by mvelgearing 11 to a vertical shaft cal "it being in turn connectthe bevel gearing 13 to the transverse drive shaft .7. A conventional form of clutch A may be applied to theer ne shalt to admit of the driving connection between the engine and. the propellers being made or broken as desired. I p I A. propeller 15 is prov ded upon eachside of peller tube 16, said tubes servin'g'to reduce the effect of end slip and also to preyentiside currents of alr from interfering with the proper action of the propellers; said tubes being slightly wider at the top than the bot:

tom so as tobe funnel shaped. Each of the propeller tubes"16 is mounted upon one of the propeller fraines 6, being supported by a pair of hangers 17 which are looselysuspended from thetransverse. drive shaft 7.

' Extending transversely across the interior of each of the propeller tubes 16 1s a bar 18 upon which the propeller shaft 19 is journaledf said propeller shaft extending axially the machine and arran ed witliin"apr0- through the propeller tube 16 and being connected to the transverse drive shaft 7 by means of bevel gearing 20. With this construction it will be obvious that the propeller tube 16 can be swung back and forth upon the transverse shaft 7 asa pivot center so as to be set in various angular positions Without interfering in any manner with the operativeness of the driving connection between the propeller shaft 19 and the transverse driving shaft 7. WVhen the propeller tube 16 is swung downwardly the force of the propeller will tend to lift the machine straight up into the air, while when the propeller tube is swung either to the rear or to the front the-force 0f the propeller will tend to drive the machine forward or backward as the case may be.

The hangers 17 of each of the propeller tubes 16 are provided with the, extensions 17*- which project upwardly above the trans verse drive shaft 7 These extensions 17 of the hangers are shown as connected to a yoke 21 at one end of an arm 22, the opposite end of the said arm being connected to a. crank arm 23 upon a rock shaft 24 which is journaled within suitable bearings 25 at one end of the corresponding propeller supporting frame 6. A second crank arm 26 at the 'inner end of the rock shaft 24 is connected by. a rearwardly extending link 27 to an operating lever 28, {so that by suitably manipulating the operating lever the angular position of the propeller tube 16 can be adjusted so that the force of the propeller will act in the desired manner either to lift the-machine straight up or "to propel it to the front or rear.

v One of the operating levers 28 is provided for the propeller upon each side of the machine and these operating levers are loose upon a. transverse shaft 29 extending across the boat and journaled in suitable bearings 30. Each of the operating levers 28 is shown as provided with a conventional: latch 31 for engaging a circular rack 32 rigid with the shaft 29. The two levers 28 are normally locked to the shaft 29 by means of the latches 31 and circular racks 32 so that when it is desired to swing both of the propellers and propeller tubes in the same direction and set 'the'same at an identical angle, it is 'merely necessary to operate one of the levers. However. when it is desired to swing the propeller tubes 16 in opposite directions for the purpose of causing the machine to spin around quickly in mid-air, the two levers 28 are each grasped. the latches 31 thereon disengaged from the circular racks 32 and the levers swungin opposite directions. -The propellers may thus either be swung in opposite directions and moved independentlvof each other. or both of them locked together so as to be moved in the same direction and set at the same angle when either of the operating levers is manipulated. Any suitable means .such as the spring; pawls 33 maybe provided for holding the shaft-29 against'rotation.. "The rudder 34 which is mounted atthe rear of the boat may be of any conventional construction and is secured to a rudder post 35} In the present instance the rudder is shown as formed of four wings 34 which are arranged at right angles to eachother 'and'radiate from the axis of the'post 35,

such a construction enabling the rudder to be used for guiding the machine up and down as well as laterally to the right and tothe left. i

The rudder supporting frame" is mounted upon the rear end of the boat and includesmovement so that they are free to swing in all directions, and suitable thrust joints are provided for preventing the members from being pulled longitudinally from the heads,

36 of the rudder supporting frame. Asiindicated upon the drawing. asuitable thrust oint may be conveniently provided upon the rudder post 35-by placing an annular enlargement 40 thereon so that it will bear looselv against the inner face of the head 36. Y

to bear looselv against the inner faced the opposite head 36. a

The inwardly projecting endsof-the rudder post 35 and operating-lever 38 are ar-' ranged in alinement with eachother .when' cause the machine to move straight ahead,

A similar annular enlargement 41 may be applied to the operating lever 38 so as the rudder is in normal position so as to and these inwardly projecting ends are connected by a series of cables 42, said cables passing around suitable guide members such as the pulleys 43 applied to the opposite heads 1 36. The operation of these cables 32-is such that when the operating lever 38 is swung into an angular position the rudder post is simultaneouslv swung into a corresponding a gn-- The aviator thus has the ,rud-

lar position. der under his complete control and can easily swing the rudder into any desired angular position for guiding the'machine up and down or to the right andlefhby suitably manipulating the operating lever 38.;,. The lever 38 may be placed in: a position adjacent the seat of the aviator so as to be readily grasped by'him, while the ruddermay be mountedin the most effective position at the rear end of the airship. v

The gearing between the vertical, shaft 12 and the transverse drive shaft -7 includes a horizontally disposed geai- Wheel 50 applied f 'lvvith corresponding "bevel pinions 51' which ar' 'l ose upon the shaft 7. lY-ith this constriiction' it, will be obvious that the two fb vel g'e ar, who

tothe upper end of theshaft 12- and meshing "s 51 revolve in opposite di when l the shaft i whee'l'hl the-propellers; will be driven in the opposite direction. A conventional form of clutch member 52 is mounted upon the shaft 7 between the gear wheels 51 and has a. feather and spline connection with the shaft. A shifting lever 58 is pro 'ided for moving the clutch member 52 back and forth and by moving the said clutch member into engagement with either one of the gear wheels 51 the shaft 7 can be locked with the said gear wheel so as to drive the propellers in a corresponding direction. When the propeller tubes 16 are swung downwardly, the propellers can be driven in one direction to lift the machine straight up into the air,

or driven in a reverse direction to pull the machine down to earth, thereby enabling a landing to be made without the necessity of letting out gas from the gas bag.

The boat a is designed in such a manner that it will float upon the water when desired and the same propellers which serve to move the machine through the air may also be utilized for moving the boat through the water. The hull of the boat is preferably constructed of the spaced shells 4*, as indicated by Figs. 1 and 2 so as to provide a chamber between the same which can be filled with gas, hot air or the exhaust from the engine, in such a manner as to increase the buoyancy of the boat.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Let ters Patent. is

1. An airship including a frame, a transverse drive shaft journaled thereon, propeller tubes. hangers supporting the propeller tubes and journaled upon the transverse drive shaft. a propeller mounted Within each propeller tube and geared to the transverse drive shaft, a lever for each propeller tube, an operative connection between each lever and the corresponding propeller tube for spinning the latter about the transverse driveshaft as an axis into various angular positions. a shaft upon which the two levers are mounted. latch -means for locking the levers with the shaft, and means for normally holding the shaft against rotation.

2. An airslnp including a frame, awtransverse drive shaft ]ournaled thereon. propel ler tubes. hangers supporting the propeller I tubes and iournaled' upon opposite ends of the drive shaft. a propeller mounted within ea h propeller tube and geared to the drive shaft, a lever shaft, a pair oflevers loose upon r I h is locked the gear wlieels'5l the'propellers' 1v ei' "in one direction, while when the said shaftis locked with theother gear" the shaft. an operative connection between ach of the levers and the corresponding propeller tube for swinging the latterabout the ft'ransvc an ular shaftfilatches upon the levers for engaging the rackshnd' i'neans foi'jinorniallv holding the lever shaft a ainst rotatioin i so d ri\'e lniftasan axis into various positions. racks upon the lever 3. An airship including a frame, a transverse drive shaft ]ournale l thereon; propeller tubes. hangers supporting the propeller tubes'and journaled upon opposite ends of the transverse drive shaft. a propeller mounted within each of the propeller tubes and geared to the transverse drive shaft, a lever shaft, a pair of levers loosely mounted upon the lever shaft, an operative connection between each lever and the corresponding propeller tube for swinging the latter about the transverse drive shaft as an axis into various angular positions. circular racks upon the metal shaft. latch members upon the levers for detachably engaging the circular racks, and spring detents engaging the circular racks to normally hold the lever shaft a ainst rotation.

An airsnip including a frame. a transverse drive shaft journaled thereon, propeller tubes, hangers supporting the propeller tubes and journaled upon opposite ends of the transverse drive shaft. a propeller mounter within each propeller tube and geared to the transverse drive shaft. extensions projecting from the hangers, rock shafts provided with crank arms. an operative connection between the hanger extensions of each propeller tube and one of the crank arms of the corresponding rock shaft, a controlling lever for each of the propeller tubes. anoperative connection between each of. the controlling levers and the other crank arm of the corresponding rock shaft. and means for locking the levers together so that they can bemoved in unison.

5. An airship including a frame. a transverse drive shaft journaled thereon, pro eller tubes. hangers supporting the propellertubes and journaled upon the transverse drive shaft. a propeller mounted within each of the propeller tubes and scared to thecular racks upon the lever shaft. latch means upon the levers for engaging the cirw cular racks. and means for normally holding.

the lever shaft against-rotation. I

6? n ai ship inc ud g a frame-a dn driven thereby' 'a pair'of bevel gears loose upon the transverse shaft at an intermediate point in'the length thereof, a vertical shaft,

a-bev'el gear wheel applied to: the vertical shaft and nieshing with the pair of bevel gears loose upon the transverse shaft, means forap'plying powerto the vertical shaft, and ia"clutc h member arranged upon the transverseshaft between the pair 'of a gear WIieeIsa'nd ,having a feather and spline conneetion with the shaft, aid clutch member being adapted to be movetl'into engagement 15 with either one of the pair-of gearfwheelsto lock the shaft therewith and} the .direqtion'of 4 rotationfof the shaft depending'upon' which one of the gear wheels is loekefd therewith In testimony fwhereof Ifaffix 'si natj 20 witnesses'i I A. L. SMITH;

DmsLEB'. 

